The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 326 Fool
They all played a brilliant game of chess.

She was all alone, acting like a fool.

The Empress not only earned a reputation for virtue in front of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, but the more distant Emperor Yuanwu became from her, the more the Empress Dowager felt indebted to her.

It's just that she can't sleep at night, it's not a big deal. In this harem, how many women can sleep at night as long as the emperor doesn't visit? Is it really necessary for the emperor and empress dowager to bestow so many gifts, even sending the empress dowager's personal embroiderer to make clothes for her?

It is evident that the Empress's methods are now unmatched in the entire harem.

Consort Xian looked at the sky in despair. She felt that her position as a consort was a joke. She had lost the emperor's favor and now all her hopes were pinned on the Third Prince.

Looking at all the princes in the harem, who has a more noble status than the Third Prince? His birth mother is a Noble Consort, and his adoptive mother is also a Consort. The position of Crown Prince is definitely the Third Prince's, and no one can compete with him for it.

The next morning, when Emperor Yuanwu came out of Yonghe Palace, the Third Prince's high fever had subsided, and after a night's rest, Consort Shu's spirits had also improved considerably.

"Your Majesty, Consort Xian also came over last night," Chun'er said while helping Consort Shu wash up.

Upon hearing Consort Xian's name, Consort Shu's heart skipped a beat. "Why is she here? Isn't she under house arrest?"

"She must have heard that the Third Prince was not well and wanted to come and see him. At that time, the imperial physician said that there were too many people in the palace, and the emperor said that so many people were not allowed to enter the palace. So I stopped the Consort and did not let her in."

Consort Shu's solemn expression finally eased a bit. Although she didn't know what Emperor Yuanwu wanted to do, Consort Xian was not only not implicated after the downfall of the Pang family, but was also restored to the rank of Consort.

Ultimately, the Imperial Concubine's rank was one level higher than hers. If she really used her status as an Imperial Concubine to suppress her, she really had no way to do anything about it.

Emperor Yuanwu ordered her to be confined to her quarters for three months, yet she was still able to come and go freely in and out of Jingyang Palace, which shows how indulgent the emperor was towards her. If it were anyone else, they would probably have been punished according to the palace rules.

Consort Shu felt uneasy. She turned her head and glanced at the sleeping Third Prince...

From the day she learned that she would be with Emperor Yuanwu, her mother told her that there was no true love in the imperial family. At this moment, she even suspected that Emperor Yuanwu's feelings for Consort Xian might really be true, and that he was deliberately distancing himself from her now only because her family had fallen on hard times. She thought that once this storm passed, Consort Xian would be as glorious and favored as before in the harem.

"If there's nothing else to do these days, try to stay in Yonghe Palace as much as possible," Consort Shu instructed solemnly.

Chun'er naturally understood the unspoken meaning behind Consort Shu's words. She was afraid that Consort Xian would retaliate maliciously because she had seen Consort Xian not let her into her bedchamber the previous night.

After all, she had seen quite a few of the immoral things Consort Xian had done in the harem over the years.

The spring breeze is like fine wine, touching things without their awareness. With the arrival of spring, all sorts of flowers in the Imperial Garden burst forth in vibrant colors.

The flower shop also cultivated many novel new varieties. Huang Zongxiao, the head eunuch of the flower shop, knew that the Empress liked flowers, so he sent them over early in the morning.

"This servant greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty be blessed." Huang Zongxiao smiled obsequiously. "These flowers are all a gift from this servant to Your Majesty the Empress. If Your Majesty ever desires anything in the future, please just give the order, and this servant will immediately have them delivered to you."

“Then I’ll have to trouble Eunuch Huang.” Shen Qingwan glanced down at them; they were indeed all fresh varieties, blooming brightly and with extremely rare colors. “Give them to me.” Huang Zongxiao’s eyes widened in surprise, and he knelt on the ground, overjoyed, kowtowing repeatedly. “This servant thanks Your Majesty the Empress for the reward. Long live Your Majesty the Empress!”

Just as Huang Zongxiao left, Meng Anfu, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, also came over. "This servant greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty be blessed. This is a piece of red coral that was just delivered to the palace from the east. In all my years of service in the Imperial Household Department, I have never seen such a large and complete piece of coral. I have specially brought it to Your Majesty for your enjoyment."

Shen Qingwan's eyes remained indifferent as she still said, "Reward."

Kunning Palace was bustling that morning, with a constant stream of people bringing gifts. Zhen'er's wrist ached from handing out so much silver as tips.

"My lady..."

Before Zhen'er could finish speaking, the people from the Imperial Kitchen arrived. Since Emperor Yuanwu dealt with Gao Da, this was the first time Shen Qingwan had met the new head of the Imperial Kitchen.

"Your humble servant, Zhou Wencai, the head of the Imperial Kitchen, greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty live a thousand years."

Zhou Wencai?
Shen Qingwan had no impression of this person. She figured he must have been personally chosen by Emperor Yuanwu. After all, the head of the Imperial Kitchen, though not a high-ranking official, was in charge of all the food in the harem.

Direct poisoning, even if it doesn't result in the extermination of nine generations of relatives, will at least result in the loss of a life. The real danger lies in the kind of poison that is added to daily food without anyone noticing. By the time it is discovered, the poison has already penetrated deep into the bone marrow, and even Hua Tuo himself would be powerless to save the patient.

"Please rise, Eunuch Zhou," Shen Qingwan said calmly.

"Your Majesty is too kind. I heard that Your Majesty enjoys cooking in the palace, so I specially sent you some fresh beef and mutton, as well as fruits and vegetables. If Your Majesty is short of anything, please just let me know, and I will have it sent over immediately," Zhou Wencai said, bowing.

Shen Qingwan glanced at Zhen'er, who also took a silver ingot and placed it in Zhou Wencai's hand. He was startled and wanted to refuse, but Zhen'er held his hand down. "Eunuch Zhou, this is a gift from the Empress. Just take it."

Zhou Wencai was slightly taken aback, then quickly knelt down to express his gratitude.

After Zhou Wencai left, Kunning Palace finally fell into complete silence.

"Your Majesty, today is really strange. The Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Kitchen seem to have planned it all, sending things to our palace one after another." Zhen'er said curiously.

Shen Qingwan walked up to the two bloody pieces of beef and mutton and thought about it seriously for a while. "Let's have roast meat for dinner tonight. It's rare to have two pieces of such fresh meat. Why don't we invite Consort Zhen, the Princess, Consort Liang, and the Second Prince over tonight, and also invite the First Prince over."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhen'er took two steps, then turned back, hesitating for a while. "Your Majesty, you only invited Consort Zhen and Consort Liang, but Consort Rou and Consort Shu also have princes. If they find out, won't they feel uncomfortable?"

"It's alright," Shen Qingwan said calmly. "I just thought that since I had prepared some roasted meat, it might be something the children like, so I called them over to eat together. The Third Prince is still recovering from his cold, and the Fourth Prince is still breastfeeding. I have never thought of using this to win over anyone, so naturally I have no fear of anyone."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will go and deliver the message immediately."

Zhen'er curtsied and was about to leave when Shen Qingwan called her back, "Wait a moment."